Dr. Kurt Birrenbach, West German Chancellor Dudwig Erhard’s special emissary, and Israeli Government leaders began today a third round of talks on the projected diplomatic ties between the two countries.
Well informed sources said that the major barrier to completion of the talks was the working of the agreement and of the joint communique announcing agreement, Fewer difficulties have developed, these sources said, about the substance of the pact, which is to cover all aspects of Bonn-Israel relations.
Israel reportedly presented a list of specific requests for inclusion in the agreement, to avoid later misunderstandings. It was understood that the Israeli negotiators urged a specific Bonn assurance of an extension of the statute of limitations deadline for prosecution of Nazi war criminals, beyond the present four-and-a-half-year postponement approved last month by the West German Parliament. Israel also insisted on West German action on the German scientists and technicians working in Egypt on advanced weapons systems.
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